Although there are extensive satellite data that help image the surface of the Earth and its deep interior, there was a gap around the South Pole area, which is not covered by satellites due the inclination of their orbits. The PolarGAP project was therefore designed to fill in the gap in the satellite data coverage of the South Pole and in particular acquire the missing gravity data.

Airborne radar data were also collected to enable mapping of the bedrock topography hidden beneath the ice sheet. The data reveals the topography which controls how quickly ice flows between the East and West Antarctic ice sheets.

The team, led by Northumbria University, has mapped for the first time three vast, subglacial valleys in West Antarctica. These valleys could be important in future as they help to channel the flow of ice from the centre of the continent towards the coast.

If climate change causes the ice sheet to thin, these troughs could increase the speed at which ice flows from the centre of Antarctica to the sea, raising global sea levels.

The largest valley, known as the Foundation Trough, is more than 350km long and 35km wide. Its length is equivalent to the distance from London to Manchester, while its width amounts to more than one and a half times the length of New York’s Manhattan Island.

The two other troughs are equally vast. The Patuxent Trough is more than 300km long and over 15km wide, while the Offset Rift Basin is 150km long and 30km wide.

“We now understand that the mountainous region is preventing ice from East Antarctica flowing through West Antarctica to the coast. In addition we have also discovered three subglacial valleys in West Antarctica which could be important in the future.

“If the ice sheet thins or retreats, these topographically-controlled corridors could facilitate enhanced flow of ice further inland, and could lead to the West Antarctic ice divide moving. This would, in turn, increase the speed and rate at which ice flows out from the centre of Antarctica to its edges, leading to an increase in global sea levels.”

Dr Winter adds: “The data we have gathered will enable ice sheet modellers to predict what will happen if the ice sheet thins, which will mean we can start to answer the questions we couldn’t answer before.”

Dr Winter worked with researchers from Newcastle University, British Antarctic Survey, the Technical University of Denmark, the Norwegian Polar Institute and the European Space Agency on the paper, Topographic steering of enhanced ice flow at the bottleneck between East and West Antarctica.

Dr Fausto Ferraccioli, Head of Airborne Geophysics at British Antarctic Survey and the Principal Investigator of the European Space Agency PolarGAP project, explained: “Remarkably the South Pole region is one of the least understood frontiers in the whole of Antarctica.

“By mapping these deep troughs and mountain ranges we have therefore added a key piece of the puzzle to help understand how the East Antarctic Ice Sheet may have responded to past change and how it may do so in the future. Our new aerogeophysical data will also enable new research into the geological processes that created the mountains and basins before the Antarctic ice sheet itself was born.”

Dr Neil Ross, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography at Newcastle University, added: “Understanding how the East and West Antarctic Ice Sheets interact is fundamental to our understanding of past, present and future global sea level. These new PolarGAP data give us both insights into how the landscape beneath the ice influences present ice flow, and a better understanding of how the parts of the great Antarctic ice sheets near to South Pole can, and cannot, evolve in response to glaciological change around their margins.

“There is a need to follow up the extensive aerogeophysical PolarGAP survey with detailed field investigations and numerical modelling of the glaciological processes operating in this frontier region of Antarctica.”

Northumbria University has a growing reputation for its research into extreme, cold and palaeo environments. Last month the University was awarded £754,000 by the Natural Environment Research Council and the National Science Foundation to undertake two studies examining how and when Antarctica’s massive Thwaites Glacier could collapse.

Northumbria is a research-rich, business-focused, professional university with a global reputation for academic excellence. To find out more about our courses go to www.northumbria.ac.uk

Ice cliffs are causing mountain glaciers in High Mountain Asia to melt more rapidly, with only those facing north surviving over the glaciers, according to a new study published today (10 April) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS.

New research from Northumbria University has revealed that metal-related pollution began in the Balkans more than 500 years before it appeared in western Europe, and persisted throughout the Dark Ages and Medieval Period, meaning the region played a far bigger role in mineral exploitation than previously believed.

Today marks the start of the first field season of a five-year quest to understand the contribution that the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica will make to global sea level. Support teams will now begin their work to get field camps and supply depots set up and ready for the arrival of science teams, which will include researchers from Northumbria University, Newcastle.

Vasile Ersek, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography at Northumbria University, and Jack Longman, Research Fellow at University of Southampton, discuss their work undertaken which suggests important role of Balkans in medieval mining due to newly discovered evidence of lead pollution.

A major £4 million EU-funded study to investigate how changes in Antarctica’s ice sheets and shelves may lead to a large and irreversible rise in global sea level over the coming decades is about to begin.
Experts from the UK, Norway, Germany and France will work together to investigate the likelihood of abrupt changes in the movement of ice in the Antarctic region over the next 100 years.